Dichotic listening performance suggests right hemisphere involvement in PTSD

Are Anxiety and Depression Taking Sides with Knee-Pain in Osteoarthritis?

INTRODUCTION

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) bears a potential of rendering patients unsatisfied with the operation as a result of negative affectivity related to osteoarthritis and TKA. Not only is pain a lateralized experience, but negative affect and other psychosomatic correlates of pain might also be processed on grounds of lateralization. Lateralization in this context is likely linked to the amygdalae, which display differential left/right patterns of association with psychopathology. What is noteworthy is that osteoarthritis itself is linked not only to negative effects but also to childhood abuse.

METHOD

The present study tests lateralization of psychosomatic correlates of knee-pain using the brief symptom inventory-18 (BSI-18), the dissociative experiences scale (FDS-20), the pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), the Tampa scale of kinesiophobia (TSK), the childhood trauma screener (CTS) and WOMAC. More precisely, we were interested in predicting the side of operations by means of the above-mentioned constructs using binary logistic regression, based on 150 participants (78 left knees) awaiting TKA for knee-osteoarthritis.

RESULTS

Somatization (p = 0.003), childhood abuse (p = 0.04) and pain-catastrophizing (p = 0.04) predicted operations on the right side. Anxiety (p = 0.001) and kinesiophobia (p = 0.002) predicted operations on the left side.

CONCLUSIONS

Knee-pain may be differentially modulated by its psychosomatic correlates as a result of lateralization and corresponding patterns of psychosomatic reagibility.

Dichotic listening performance and interhemispheric integration after stress exposure

Functional hemispheric asymmetries (FHAs) have been thought to be relatively stable over time. However, past research has shown that FHAs are more plastic than initially thought. Endocrinological processes have been demonstrated to alter FHAs. As the product of the stress-activated hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis, cortisol influences information processing at every level from stimulus perception to decision making and action. To investigate the influence of acute stress on FHAs, 60 participants performed a Banich–Belger task, as well as a verbal and an emotional dichotic listening task in two sessions. One session included a stress induction via the Trier Social Stress Test, the other session included a control procedure. We calculated across-field advantages (AFAs) in the Banich–Belger task and lateralization quotients for reaction times and responses per side in both dichotic listening tasks. There were no significant differences between the stress and control session in the dichotic listening tasks. In contrast, there was evidence for an influence of cortisol and sympathetic activation indicated by salivary alpha amylase changes on AFAs in the Banich–Belger task. This indicates that acute stress and the related increase in cortisol do not influence dichotic listening performance. However, stress does seem to affect interhemispheric integration of information. Future research using EEG, fMRI and pharmacological interventions is needed to further characterize the relation of hemispheric asymmetries and acute stress.

Hostility and cognitive control: Evidence of increased cardiovascular reactivity as a function of exposure to affective stress using a dichotic listening paradigm

Indices of cognitive control were examined in men with high and low levels of trait hostility as a function of exposure to affective and cognitive stress. A dual concurrent task paradigm was used whereby participants intentionally directed focus to the left or right ear under dichotic listening conditions before and after exposure to angry infant vocalizations. Analysis of the behavioral data supports the prediction of reduced right frontal regulatory control in men with high levels of hostility as indicated by diminished capacity to suppress report of phonemes presented to the language dominant left hemisphere (right ear) in the Focus Left condition. This diminishment in the capacity to suppress report of phonemes presented to the right ear in the Focus Left condition is suggestive of reduced cognitive control. With respect to the neurophysiological data, heart rate increased for only men with high levels of hostility in the Focus Left condition, and this was especially evident in the post-affective stress condition. This increase in right hemisphere arousal provides additional evidence of reduced cognitive control and support for the capacity model of hostility by implicating poor right frontal regulatory control over right posterior cerebral regions under dual task conditions. The results are discussed in terms of integrating the construct of cognitive control into the capacity model as well as providing implications regarding reductions in the capacity to suppress predominant aggressive responses in domestic settings.

Neuropsychological Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can affect people of all ages but the literature is lacking on children and adolescents who experience PTSD. The consequences of this disorder extend beyond the basic symptoms by which it is defined. Neuroanatomically, the brains of children with PTSD have been found to be abnormally symmetrical in several structures, resulting in abnormal functioning. Neuropsychological assessment reveals that children and adolescents with the PTSD syndrome have significant deficits in memory, attention, executive functioning, and in overall verbal intelligence that needs to be discriminated from other syndromes with similar deficits, for example, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This review presents the research findings with regard to these deficits in learning and behaviour that school psychologists encounter with students who experience PTSD. Implications for the practice of school psychology and suggestions for future research are discussed.